I sneaked a few background shots at the VanARTS wedding photography workshop I was assisting at recently.
My heart was bursting a little because it was the first time VanARTS had ever had a same sex couple modeling.
Never in my wildest dream could I have imagined marriage equality in my lifetime.
They were so in love.
Meet Cynthia Brooke, ILWU Local 500 Longshoreman/Stevedore, Dapper member of the Leadfoot butch choir, and all around wonderful human being.
Cynthia came to me wanting portraits that reflected her Longshoreman pride and her pride in being a Butch woman.
I think we succeeded.
My first 2015 COVER for Xtra newspaper of the wonderful Vancouver Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence.
This one was particularly satisfying as I pitched the story and cover idea to Xtra and they went for it!!
Click this LINK to read the full story about the Sisters and to see their beautiful portraits.
Xtra did a creative crop of my Sisters image for the cover so I couldn't resist having some fun with a silly selfie.
Check out more of my LGBT portraiture at belleancell.com
I'm a Mount Pleasant girl but I spend a lot of time in the West End, so I was so excited when WeARTS (West End ARTS) contacted me to be featured in the inaugural issue of Hatch magazine.
My friend Annie Reid wrote the article and she asked me some thought provoking questions.
It was a positive process for me as it forced me to dig deep about who, what and why in regards to my artistic practice.
Dancer/choreographer Noam Gagnon invited me into his home to create intimate portraits of him and it was a photographers dream. White white everywhere! Soft diffused light bounced off white walls and white furniture and into his gorgeous eyes. Noam was completely as ease in front of the camera and we were able to create some stunning fine art nude images of him.
This was a challenging assignment. Capture behind the scenes images of a nude photography class without capturing the behinds. Thanks to some creative camera angles I was able to do so.
At the end of the day I stole one of the models and found some beautiful window light in the basement to create a portrait of him. It was a fun day. I so love my job.
It all started innocently enough with Cor Flammae and a group photo shoot with 21 of the most fabulously dressed Choral singers in Vancouver.
How do you top a shoot like that? Well, you have to do the next one on a rooftop. Obviously.
Feast your eyes on the Vancouver Cantata Singers. 25 elegantly dressed award-winning Choral singers.
Despite blaring sun (it was supposed to be dramatic clouds that day) and gusting winds we managed to capture a fantastic group shot of them.
Thanks to Olivia Chao and Debbie Pipe for shoot assistance and Debbie for taking these fun behind the scenes shots.
Vancouver portrait photographer Belle Ancell specializes in creating heirloom fine art for families.
CONTACT
778-888-0313
belle@belleancellphotography.com
